Thread knot and method for making same



' March 1959 A. ALTENWEGER 2,879,095

THREAD 'KNOT AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME Filed April 15, 1957 Fig. 1

a a Y Fig.4

United States Patent THREAD KNOT AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME AloisAltenweger, Uster, Switzerland, assignor to Zellweger A.G., ApparateundMaschinenfabriken Uster, Uster, Switzerland, a corporation ofSwitzerland Application April 15, 1957, Serial No. 652,843

1 Claim. (Cl. 289-1.5)

The present invention relates to a new thread knot and a method formaking same.

To satisfy the requirements of the textile industry 'several deviceshave been developed for knotting threads. The most commonly usedmechanisms include a'rota'table knotter which is provided with agripping and a cutting element or in which the knot is formed by meansof a sleeve or thorn around which the threads are looped, the threadends being pulled by a hook into the sleeve or thornso that the threadloops can'be tightened around thethread ends.

The manner of knotting threads in textile machinery depends on theindividual requirements. 'The knots which are produced by warp knottersneed not be particularly small because they are not present in thefinished material. All what is required from these knots is that they donot open under any circumstances. The conventional knots do not fulfillthis requirement if they are used for threads made of syntheticmaterials which threads are very smooth.

The object of the present invention resides in the provision of a newmethod for knotting threads and of a new knot which does not open evenif it is used for very smooth threads. With the newmeth'od' the threadends to be knotted are laid side by side and formed into a loopwhereupon the ends portions of the threads coming out of the loop arewound five quarter times around the thread running into the loop. Thethread ends are subsequently pulled through the loop from the side ofthe loop which is opposite the side where the winding of the thread endsstarted. Pulling the thread ends projecting from the loop and thethreads running into the loop in opposite directions tightens the knot.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, and additional objects and advantages thereof will bestbe understood from the following descriptions of embodiments thereofwhen read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figs. 1 to 3 illustrate three consecutive phases of making the knotaccording to the invention;

Fig. 4 is a part sectional perspective illustration of a device forknotting threads according to the invention;

Figs. to 8 illustrate the thread knotter of the device shown in Fig. 4in diiferent operating positions;

Fig. 9 is a perspective illustration of the vital portions of adifferent thread knotter which is suitable for producing the knotaccording to the invention;

Figs. to 13 show the thread knotting part of the device shown in Fig. 9in different operating positions.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the individual parts of thetwo illustrated devices are designated by consecutive arabic numerals,the individual thread portions being designated by small letters, thesame letters being used in all figures of the drawing for the samethread portions. The thread ends to be knotted are in parallel relationand adjacent to each other during Patented Mar. 24, 1959 the wholethreading operation and are shown by a solid line in Figs. 1 to 3 and 5to 13.

When producing the knot according to the invention the thread ends to beknotted are first bent to form a loop a; 'as shown in Fig. 1. The letter[1 designates the threads as they come from the warp. The letter 0designates' the thread ends which are cut by conventional means of awarp knotting machine. After the loop, shown in Fig. 1, has been formed,the thread ends 0 extending from the loop are wound five quarter timesaround the threads b which run into the loop (Fig. 2). These windingsare designated by the letter I. The thread ends 0 are then pushedthrough the loop a from the side which is opposite the side where thewindings d start (Fig. 3). The knot is tightened by pulling the threadends 0 projecting from the loop a in opposite direction to the threads brunning into the loop a.

Numeral 1 in Fig. 4 designates a conventional knotting thorn or tubewhich 'is rigidly connected with the frame 3 ofthe warp knotting machineby means of a' flange 2. The thorn 1 is hollow, axially movablyaccommodating a conventional needle 4. The front end 5 of the needle isformed as a hook for pulling threads which are laid into the hook intothe bore of the thorn 1 upon retraction of the needle 4. To the rear endof the needle 4 an element 6 is clamped which element is provided with apin extending into a slot of a lever 8. Swinging of the lever 8 causedby a cam 9 acting on a roller mounted on the lever 8 and not visible inFig. 4 causes reciprocating movement of the needle 4 in the thorn 1. Thecam 9 is mounted on a shaft 10 which makes one full revolution for eachknotting operation. The knotting thorn'or tube 1 has on its outside alongitudinal groove in which slides an ejector 11 Whose rear end isprovided with a head from which a pin 12 extends. The latter is slidablein a slot ofa lever 13. The rear of the lever 13 is provided with a camfollower roller, not vissible, engaged by a cam 14 mounted on the shaft10 for reciprocating the ejector 11 in the longitudinal groove of thethorn 1. A spur gear wheel 15 is mounted on the shaft 10 and engages theteeth of a pinion which is mountedon a hollow shaft 16 revolvable on thethorn 1. The numbers of teeth of the wheel 15 and of the pinion aresothat the pinion revolves three times at each revolution of the shaft 10.A sleeve 17 is axially movable on the shaft 16 and prevented to revolverelatively to the shaft by a key. The sleeve 17 supports a conventionalthread clamp 18 having a fixed jaw and a spring actuated jaw androtating around the longitudinal axis of the thorn 1 when the pinion onthe shaft 16 is rotated. An actuating fork 19 has prongs extending intoan annular groove in the sleeve 17 and is mounted on a rod 20 which islongitudinally movably supported by the frame 3. A head is clamped tothe far end of the rod 20, the head being provided with a pin 21 whichis slidable in a slot of a lever 22. The latter is actuated by a cam 23mounted on the shaft 10 so that upon rotation of the shaft 10 the fork19 moves the sleeve 17 and the thread clamp 18 along the thorn 1simultaneously with the rotation of the sleeve 17 around the axis of thethorn 1. The warp knotting machine separates in the conventional mannerone thread each from the used up warp and from the new warp. Byconventional devices, not shown, these threads are placed in theposition shown in Fig. 5 after the thread ends 0 have been cut off byconventional means. When the thread knotting machine begins a threadknotting cycle the rotating thread clamp 18 seizes the thread ends andlays these ends once around the thorn 1 while the sleeve 17 is so movedthat the ends c come to rest behind the threads b when looking towardsthe free end of the knotting thorn (Fig. 6).

The first revolution of the thread clamp thus forms the loop a. At thesubsequent revolution of the thread clamp 18 the clamp is moved beyondthe free'end of the thorn 1 by the sleeve 17 and is then moved towardsthe frame 3 so that the thread ends slide past the free end of the thornand are subsequently placed behind the threads b running into the loop.In this way the winding d is formed. During the subsequent rotatingmotion of the thread clamp the clamp is moved beyond or forward of thefree end of the thorn 1. The hook 5 is simultaneously projected from thebore of the knotting thorn so that the thread ends 0 cannot slide overthe free end of the thorn 1 but are laid into the hook 5. Immediatelythereafter, the needle 4 is retracted in the bore of the knotting thornpulling the thread ends c out of the clamp 18 and yieldingly retainingthe thread ends in the bore of the thorn 1. The clamp continues torotate and seizes a pair of threads which has been presented in themeantime by conventional devices, not shown, while the ejector 11 movestowards the free end of the knotting thorn, throwing off the previouslyformed loop and windings. Conventional devices, not shown, pull on thethreads b tightening the knot, shown in Fig. 8, and pulling the threadends 0 out of the bore of the knotting thorn.

The mechanism illustrated in Fig. 9 operates by a conventional knottingbill which is provided with a gripping ends 0, because the bill knotterwill do this after completion of the knotting operation. A conventionalthread guide, not shown, places the threads b in such a positionrelatively to the bill knotter that the point of the latter passes atthe left of the threads during the initial revolution of the billknotter, Fig. 11. The thread guide 43 carries the thread ends so farforward that they do not element 32 and with a movable cutting element33, the V latter, during rotation of the bill knotter 31, being actuatedby means of a sleeve 35 which is eccentrically mounted relatively to therotation axis of the shaft 34 of the bill knotter. Bill knotters of thistype afiord seizing and cutting the thread ends so that theloops formedon the bill can be pulled over the thread ends. A spur gear 36 ismounted on the shaft 34 which gear meshes With a gear 37 mounted on ashaft 38. The numbers of teeth of the wheels 36 and 37 are so chosenthat the shaft 34 makes two revolutions during one revolution of theshaft 38 at each knotting operation. A cam 39 is mounted on the shaft 38which cam engages a follower roller 40 mounted on a lever 42 whichswings on a shaft 41. On the free end of the lever 42 a thread holder 43is mounted. The thread holder is provided with a slot 44 for guiding thethreads to be knotted. Prior to the knotting operation conventionalelements, not shown, present the thread ends to be knotted to the billknotter 3 1. In this case it is not necessary to cut the thread comewithin reach of the scissors formed by the gripping and cutting elementsalthough the scissors are opened by the sleeve 35 whenever the scissorspass the thread ends. The thread ends are in front of the path of thebill knotter during the first revolution of the latter. In this mannerthe loop 11, shown in Fig. 11 is formed. At the subsequent revolution ofthe knotter, the loop a is turned approximately five quarter timesrelatively to the thread ends, producing the same result as if thethreads were turned relatively to the loop (Fig. 12). 'At this secondrevolution the cam 39 actuates the thread holder 43 so that the threadends move into the path of the scissors formed by the knotter and by thecutting element 33 and away from the loop one and one-quarter turnsabout the standing portion, passing the end portions through the loop onthat side opposite to that where the one and one-quarter turns areinitially wound about the standing portion, and tightening the knot bypulling the pairs of threads passing through the loop in a directionaway from those extending toward the loop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSMcKinney Feb. 6, 1900 Raney July 2, 1946 OTHER REFERENCES PopularMechanics, May 1945, pp. -110.

